Todd Hooks

New Orleans Pelicans

We are sad to report that following this issue, Dr. Li-Wei Chou will no longer be able to contribute to this quarterly literature overview. Unfortunately, his work responsibilities have increased to such an extent that they need to take priority. On behalf of the team, we would like to thank Dr. Chou for his thoughtful and balanced reviews during t...

We are starting 2020 with 6 basic research studies, 9 review articles, 14 dry needling/injection studies, and one manual therapy paper for a total of 30 new papers. Topics range from studies on mechanisms, inflammatory mediators in myofascial pain, fascia, screening, Platelet-rich plasma intramuscular injections, and temporal summation to clinical...

This quarter's overview of the myofascial pain literature includes quite a few basic research papers in addition to the usual high quantity of dry needling (DN) papers. Of particular interest are a study by Fischer and colleagues studying the role of mitochondrial functions in chronic trigger points (TrPs) (Fischer et al 2018), a study by Li and as...

The first article featured in this quarter's overview deserves special attention. Margalef and colleagues developed the first viable animal model of trigger points (TrPs). They also provided evidence of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) near TrPs, which is a new finding that deserves further scientific inquiry (Margalef et al 2019). In 2011, Stecco et al....

This edition of the overview of current myofascial pain literature features several interesting and important publications. From Australia, Braithwaite and colleagues completed an outstanding systematic review of blinding procedures used in dry needling (DN)studies. Other papers tackled the interrater reliability of the identification of trigger po...

This is the first issue of this review column since the passing of Dr. Leon Chaitow. We would like to take a brief moment to acknowledge how much his mentorship, friendship, and confidence have meant to us. Leon was a force in osteopathic and naturopathic medicine and his influence reaches to all corners of the musculoskeletal realm crossing over m...

In the current issue of this clinical overview, we are pleased to include several basic research studies ranging from the differentiation of radicular and non-radicular low back pain based on the presence of trigger points (TrPs) to the role of TrPs in patients with osteoarthritis, the diagnostic criteria of TrP, the accurate placement of needles i...

Twenty-four basic and clinical studies and case reports are included in this quarterly review of the myofascial pain literature. The majority of publications focus on invasive techniques, especially dry needling. We hope, that this not suggest that clinicians and researchers are slowly moving away from manual trigger point (TrP) approaches. While s...

The majority of papers included in the quarterly review discuss various aspects of dry needling (DN), which continues to be of interest to researchers and clinicians. A study by Liu et al. is the first paper to examine the effects of DN of acetylcholine, esterase and receptors. The study provides support for the integrated trigger point hypothesis...

In this overview of the myofascial pain literature, we have included several original contributions ranging from a study by Bowen and colleagues of trigger points in horses to the introduction of a new clinical entity of "laryngeal muscle myofascial pain syndrome in dysphonic patients." Minerbi and colleagues described for the first time the referr...

We would like to welcome Dr. Li-Wei Chou, MD, PhD as our newly appointed contributing author. Dr. Chou is Assistant Professor at China Medical University in Taichung, Taiwan and he has an impressive publication record with many research studies and book chapters. The current overview includes several articles comparing dry needling (DN) to acupunct...

After two years of having contributed to this overview series of articles, we sadly say goodbye to Dr. Rob Grieve. We would like to thank Dr. Grieve for his insightful contributions and analyses of the myofascial pain literature. Dr. Grieve would have preferred to continue, but his many university and research responsibilities had to take priority....

Background: Although commonly utilized interventions, no studies have directly compared the effectiveness of cervical and thoracic manipulation to mobilization and exercise in individuals with cervicogenic headache (CH). The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of manipulation to mobilization and exercise in individuals with CH. Metho...

This edition of the overview of the current myofascial pain literature includes 24 studies, case reports and systematic and narrative reviews. Surprisingly, five of the 24 papers were difficult to read and interpret mostly because of a poor mastery of the English language. It is somewhat surprising that journal editors and reviewers would accept pa...

Overhead athletes are susceptible to shoulder joint pathology due to the repetitive nature of throwing activities and the unique and sports-specific pattern of the sporting activities. Extreme forces are placed upon the glenohumeral joint as a result of anterior shear forces that approach 50 % body weight that occur as a result of high angular velo...

The worldwide interest in myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) and trigger points (TrPs) is reflected in the increasing number of publications. In this overview of the literature, we included 26 studies, case reports and review articles by authors from 18 different countries. Several research groups are exploring the characteristic of TrPs such as Chen a...

The repetitive nature of throwing manifests characteristic adaptive changes to the shoulder, scapulothoracic, and hip/pelvis complexes that result in a set of unique physical traits in the overhead throwing athlete. An effective rehabilitation program is dependent upon an accurate evaluation and differential diagnosis to determine the causative fac...

WERFERSCHULTER: Im Profi-Baseball verursachen Schulterverletzungen rund 28 Prozent aller Spiel- und Trainingsausfalle. Kevin Wilk und sein Team erklaren, wie man die meist schwache Schulterblattmuskulatur zusatzlich aktiviert und unter anderem mit dem Programm Advanced Thrower’s Ten aus verletzten Sportlern wieder Werfer mit dynamisch stabilisierte...

The current overview includes thirty articles published in the recent past about myofascial pain, trigger points (TrPs) and related topics. In the Basic Research section, several interesting new studies are reviewed addressing the presence of TrPs in patients with low back pain, episodic migraine, or following a meniscectomy. An animal study of the...

The overhead athlete has unique physical traits and adaptive changes as a result of the repetitive nature of throwing. An effective rehabilitation program depends on an accurate evaluation to determine the causative factors for an athlete's pathology. A treatment program is individualized with specific strengthening and flexibility exercises to ach...

The second article in this review series considers multiple recent publications about myofascial pain, trigger points (TrPs) and other related topics. The article is divided into several sections, including a Basic Research section (4 articles), a section on Soft Tissue Approaches (5 articles), a Dry Needling and Acupuncture section (7 articles), a...

Shoulder impingement is a progressive orthopedic condition that occurs as a result of altered biomechanics and/or structural abnormalities. An effective nonoperative treatment for impingement syndrome is aimed at addressing the underlying causative factor or factors that are identified after a complete and thorough evaluation. The clinician devises...

Synopsis: Stretching techniques that focus on increasing posterior shoulder soft tissue flexibility are commonly incorporated into prevention and treatment programs for the overhead athlete. The cross-body and sleeper stretch exercises have been described as stretching techniques to improve posterior shoulder soft tissue flexibility and to increas...

Background: Surgical techniques for ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction have evolved since first described by Jobe. A modified reconstruction technique has been developed, called the docking plus technique, and the authors biomechanically compared it to the commonly performed docking technique. Hypothesis: The docking plus technique f...

Descriptive postoperative follow-up research. The purpose of this investigation was to describe the return-to-competition rate and functional outcome of overhead athletes following arthroscopic thermal-assisted capsular shrinkage (TACS). Traditional open procedures to correct instability in overhead athletes, such as capsulolabral repairs and capsu...

The rehabilitation process begins immediately following ACL injury, with emphasis on reducing swelling and inflammation; improving motion; regaining quadriceps control; allowing immediate weight-bearing; and restoring full passive knee extension and, gradually, flexion. The goal of preoperative rehabilitation is to prepare the patient mentally and...